IBT Staff Reporter

The United Arab Emirates is likely to announce the results of one of the world's biggest nuclear power contracts later Sunday, South Korean media reported.

Japanese National Strategy Minister Naoto Kan said on Sunday the country's economy can avoid a double-dip recession thanks to economic recovery abroad, fiscal stimulus by the government and better market conditions.

Banks must provide sufficient credit and governments in the euro zone must reign in public finances to support a global economic recovery in 2010, the President of the European Central Bank said on Sunday.

The chief executive of Scania is skeptical about any merger with its German truck rival MAN SE, according to an interview with a German newspaper.

The government created a record on Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in November 2009 in the intelligence community's central repository of information on known and suspected international terrorists, but there was not enough negative information to put him on a no-fly list, a U.S. administration official said on Saturday.

The Justice Department charged Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab with attempting to destroy an airplane on Christmas day by using a PETN explosive.

Charlie Sheen has now been released from Pitkin County Jail, after being arrested for domestic violence, according to Aspen Police.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday in a push to win one of the world's biggest nuclear power contracts.

Argentina's economy could grow up to 7 percent in 2010 as the worst of the global financial crisis eases, Economy Minister Amado Boudou was quoted as saying in a local paper on Saturday.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday in a push to win one of the world's biggest nuclear power contracts.

With the holiday shopping buzz behind us, Amazon released its annual post-Christmas statement and announced that more Kindle books were sold than real books through Amazon on Christmas day.

Argentina's economy could grow up to 7 percent in 2010 as the worst of the global financial crisis eases, Economy Minister Amado Boudou was quoted as saying in a local paper on Saturday.

A bomb in Pakistan's commercial capital Karachi wounded at least 19 people on Saturday, police said, in an apparent attack on Shi'ite Muslims ahead of one of their most important mourning rituals.

A Nigerian who has been detained in Detroit after trying to ignite an explosive device on a U.S. passenger plane is the son of a prominent former banker, a family member told Reuters on Saturday.

A Nigerian man with possible links to al Qaeda militants was in custody on Saturday after he tried to ignite an explosive device on a U.S. passenger plane as it approached Detroit, U.S. officials said.

Koss Corp fired its vice president of finance after she allegedly embezzled more than $20 million from the headphones maker for a multi-year shopping spree of expensive clothes, jewelry and other personal items.

A strong earthquake struck off Indonesia's Tanimbar Islands in the east of the country on Saturday, but there was no tsunami alert issued and no reports of immediate damage, the country's meteorology agency said.

Afghanistan aims to hold a vote for the lower house of parliament by late May although fraud, security and funding could all be problems, he said.

Iranian riot police fired tear gas and warning shots to disperse opposition supporters in Tehran who used a Shi'ite religious festival on Saturday to stage new anti-government protests, a reformist website said.

Airports and airlines across Europe moved rapidly to tighten security on U.S.-bound flights on Saturday after a man tried to set off explosives on a plane flying from Amsterdam to Detroit.

A U.S. human rights activist trying to raise global attention about the suffering of the North Korean people has crossed into the reclusive state, other activists and South Korean media said on Saturday.

Thousands of saffron-robed Thai monks chanted and prayed for victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami on Saturday as Asia marked the fifth anniversary of one of history's worst natural disasters.

After hitting an all-time low in early December, the average rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rose to 5.05 percent this week and could climb to 6 percent by the end of 2010, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing U.S. mortgage financier Freddie Mac's latest survey.

Toyota Motor Corp expects a 17 percent increase in its 2010 global production, excluding units Daihatsu and Hino Motors, from this year to about 7.5 million units, Japanese media reported on Saturday.

A Nigerian man linked to al Qaeda tried to set off an explosive device aboard a U.S. passenger plane as it approached Detroit on Friday, but was overpowered by passengers and crew and the aircraft landed safely, U.S. officials said.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth paid tribute to the armed forces and referred to the recession in her annual Christmas Day message on Friday, describing 2009 as a difficult year.

The 9-year-old boy at the center of an international custody battle arrived back in the United States on Thursday after being reunited in Brazil with his American father at the end of a five-year dispute that tested bilateral ties.

A Nigerian man linked to al Qaeda tried to set off an explosive device aboard a U.S. passenger plane as it approached Detroit on Friday, but was overpowered by passengers and crew and the aircraft landed safely, U.S. officials said.

President Barack Obama, who is on vacation in Hawaii, was actively monitoring the situation with a Delta flight on which a man reportedly set off firecrackers, the White House said on Friday.